Eclipse *Minsung*

Love and war

*TW: some violence (word and action), depictions of panic

The King and Queen of the Sun sat forward, staring at the man discarded on the floor beside the council table. The man was gruffly silent, but his eyes burned with pure hatred and rage as he glared at the two princes that dropped him.

After Minho's short explanation of what happened, the council room was filled with a tense silence before the king finally spoke.

"You have two options. Either you tell us all we need to know here and now, or we can torture answers out of you. Given my current mood, I would rather not resort to the latter option, but as I said, it's your choice." The king rose to his feet, gaze scorching into the man. "Which is it?"

Before anyone could move or utter a word, the doors of the council room flew open, and Seungmin came marching in, dragging a young man by the back of his Eastern-style shirt.

"What's going on?" Minho questioned, brows creasing in confusion.

The assassin shoved the young man down. "Ask him, he's the one blathering on about everything and begging to speak with you."

The young man kept his head down, hands splayed out on the floor, short black and blonde hair wild and hanging down to further hide his face. "I really do not mean any harm, please."

Minho motioned to one of the guards, who grabbed the other man to take him out of the room. He watched the young man in front of him carefully. "Speak."

He slowly raised his head, revealing sharp features and... purple irises. "I'm Jeongin, the youngest prince of Banscar. I came to the Sun Lands of my own accord. I do not wish for violence or war, I only want to make peace, and my brothers do not listen to me."

The royalty of Banscar were all born with purple eyes, so there was no question this young man was, indeed, royalty, but aside from that... Minho was cautious. He had to be. "So I'm assuming you already know that a force of your men just attacked Prince Jisung and I?"

Jeongin's eyes widened. "Already? I- I didn't realize my brothers set their plan in motion already. I came here as fast as I could to try to warn you."

Minho wasn't sure what to believe, but the slight wobble in the young prince's words swayed him toward believing him.

Jisung spoke up first. "Have they always planned on moving against us, or did my letters provoke them?"

Jeongin glanced at the Moon Prince nervously. "They never really received your letters. They were largely ignored and tossed out, I was the only one to read them."

Minho and Jisung shared a glance, and then the Sun Queen was suddenly on her feet.

"What letters does he speak of, Minho?"

Something twisted around Minho's lungs. Working behind his parents' backs could be considered rebellion, but it seemed his plan was going to be outed sooner than later. "I'll explain everything, I promise." He turned back to the Prince of Banscar. "You may stand, we are equals, you do not need to lower yourself below me."

Seungmin's hands found his daggers, but he didn't draw them as he watched the young prince slowly rise to his feet. At a glance from Minho, he stepped back, observing the situation from a more respectable distance.

Jeongin straightened his clothes and unsteadily brushed himself off. "Thank you, Your Highness. I believe in your cause, I truly do. It's why I came here looking for you. I didn't travel quite fast enough to catch you on the road."

Minho nodded, still wary but open to hearing what he had to say. "So you wish to work with us, but the rest of Banscar is against us?"

"Um... mostly."